Dear Editor,
We don’t have to go looking very far in Guyana for ‘dark tourism.’ Just pass by your Le Repentir Cemetery and you can find it right there if you dare to enter; go for the older, already full of tombs areas. Also lots of areas in Georgetown are ‘dark areas.’ No need to go to Jonestown at all; no need for development or to spend a single cent; it’s all right there ready to go and scary as can be. It’s overrun by high grass, wild trees, open graves, flooded canals and graves, big holes – some unburied bodies at times. You will find it impossible to even see most of the graves because of the bush, so you may need a bit of cutlass cutting to get in – plenty of dark adventure hiking and trekking.
Honestly, dark tourism in Jonestown is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of. Guyana, get it together. You can’t even keep your own cemetery clean in town, so how do you imagine you can keep the jungle out of Jonestown and attract tourists? Does Guyana really want to promote such a dreadful, sad event? Victims’ families perhaps came already to Port Kaituma, or may still come once, but I don’t think they will be flying in again and again indefinitely, or will want to be reminded of the terrible event. So who are these ‘dark tourists’ you plan to attract? Somehow I don’t think you will find too many interested persons, and the money or whatever else they may bring may not be worth the price you may have to pay to get it.
I suggest it may be more worthwhile for you clean up Le Repentir and other graveyards all over Guyana so that Guyanese who live in Guyana can bury and visit their dead respectfully on a regular basis. Guyanese who live abroad can come and visit and pay respects to their loved ones and bury any new members. There is plenty money in this if you are looking for a regular supply of tourists and money. But, I can tell you not the way the city is maintaining the cemetery now; it is a national disgrace. Since the grounds are divided by religion, perhaps the different churches should together with government and some community leaders and raise the funds to clean and maintain Le Repentir. Perhaps they could also arrange for families to pay money to a crew who would maintain their gravesites by painting them, etc.
Since I have no hard facts to back me up except my own experiences and those of family and friends after years of travelling to and from Guy-ana, I cannot help but notice that most tourists coming to Guyana are Guyanese who live outside and come back for holidays, family events, etc. They bring in good money on a regular basis, both when they travel and also when they send money to Guyana.
A big help would be for the airlines to have more respect for them by putting on more flights; locating lost luggage promptly; seeing that the lost luggage is delivered with everything which was put in the bag, ie, better security; seeing they receive the same compensation for lost luggage as non-Guyanese do on exactly same flights; paying two-way taxi fares for the delivery of lost luggage instead of one-way fares; having a polite, efficient person dealing with lost luggage who actually answers the phone and deals with the problem sooner rather than later or never; reasonable air fares especially in the Caribbean area; and some agreements with other Caribbean airports for intransit passengers so that they are not losing their duty-free every time they have to get off the plane. These are just some of the areas the Ministry of Tourism and Commerce can help with and forget about dark tourism. Guyanese want to come home, they want to spend, they want to be safe and could be your best bet for coming back again and again bringing friends and more family and more cash.
Yours faithfully,
P. Singh
